The Security Baseline - The Minimum You Need for Safe Computing
- Taken from www.WindowsSecrets.com

Every PC needs the following six components for protection against hacker attacks, both from the Internet and from within your company or home. In each issue, starting today, this new section will summarize the products top-rated by trusted reviewers.

1. Hardware firewall. For wired home and small-office networking, the 8-port Linksys BEFSR81 router ($80 USD) is rated "the best of our testing" by Extreme Tech. For wireless networking, the new Belkin Wireless Pre-N router ($150) is currently highest-rated at CNET.

2. Software firewall. Often called a "personal firewall," ZoneAlarm Pro ($40) is number one according to several testers, including TopTenReviews.com and PC World's Best of 2004.

3. Antivirus. Trend Micro's PC-cillin Internet Security 2005 antivirus suite ($50), which includes a personal firewall, recently won head-to-head comparisons in PC World and CNET.

4. Antispam. Cloudmark Safetybar ($40, formerly SpamNet) is rated a Best Buy by PC World and Editors' Choice by PC Magazine.

5. Anti-adware. Giant AntiSpyware or Microsoft AntiSpyware beta, Webroot Spy Sweeper, CWShredder (use all; free or optional registration). See article above.

6. Update management. Without naming a winner (because update software is highly related to your network's size), a wide-ranging buyer's guide to patch-management software was published in the Oct. 2004 Windows IT Pro magazine.